SRINAGAR: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Mashawarat or a joint advisory council of separatist parties in Kashmir has called for a shutdown on Wednesday.
The council, formed to chalk out a strategy of protests to demand the body of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat for burial in the valley, issued a new protest programme Sunday.
A statement mailed by the council says there will be no shutdown on Monday, but it has asked people to hold protests after dusk.
It has asked them to chant slogans like “Allah o Akbar”, “We want Freedom” and “Return the mortal remains of the martyrs”.
On Tuesday, government employees have been asked to observe a pen-down strike for an hour.
The council has asked people to observe a ‘civil curfew’ in the state on Wednesday and chant slogans.
It has asked the diaspora and “friends of humanity” to protest to demand that the bodies of Guru and Bhat be returned to their families and also against the “human rights violation in Kashmir” on Thursday.
The Majlis has said there will be no shutdown on Friday, but has asked clerics to lead special prayers. “At this critical time, when there is a wave of oppression, Kashmiri people desperate need help from Allah. The Imams (prayer leaders) are asked to offer the Qunut-e-Naazilah,” the statement reads.
For Saturday, college and university students have been asked to hold protest demonstrations at their respective campuses. But the council has clarified that only male students will protest.
“A separate programme for girls will be issued,” it says. On Sunday, business will be normal and there will be no shutdown.
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Unmoved
Afzal Guru was hanged and buried at the Tihar jail on Feb 9, after the President rejected his mercy petition. He was convicted for plotting an attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001. Maqbool Bhat, a separatist leader was hanged at the same jail in 1984.
People have reserved empty graves for them at the “Martyr’s Cemetery” in Srinagar.
The chief minister Omar Abdullah said he has written to New Delhi seeking the return of their bodies as has Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, former union home minister and leader of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The council of separatists, formed last month, says the fact that the Tihar authorities have received no directions to return the bodies of Guru and Bhat “indicates that the government of India has not even considered our demands.”
But it says “The continuous demand by Guru’s family and the Kashmiri people will eventually force the government ot return not only his body but also that of Mohammed Maqbool Bhat.”
The separatists have also launched a scathing attack on the state government for the arrests of youth. It says the spree of arrests have turned into a business, where families of the young boys are “forced to pay Rs 10,000” for their release.
The council has also crticised the police for the use of pepper grenades which it says is a “collective punishment” to the people of Kashmir.
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